UST HOS Chapter 7

◄ HOS 7 ► ║ ═ ©

7 whenever I want to restore the people of Israel,

I see how sinfully the people of Ephraim act,

and all of the evil things that the people of the city of Samaria do.

Indeed, they constantly deceive others,

thieves break into houses, and gangs of robbers steal from people in the streets.

2 They never stop to think that I remember every evil thing that they do.

It is as though they have piled up their sins all around them;

it is as though those sins are always right in front of me.

3 The people of Israel please their king by doing evil things,

and they please the royal officials by telling lies.

4 All the people are unfaithful to me like an adulterous spouse.

They are so intent on doing evil things that they are like a burning oven that a baker has heated;

it is so hot that the baker does not need to stir the fire

from when he starts to knead the dough until he adds leavening to it.

5 On the day that they celebrate the king’s festival,

the officials made him drunk with wine until he became sick.

Then the king joined in with those who mock me.

6 Indeed, the officials strongly desire to murder the king, as though their hearts were as hot as an oven.

They remain angry through the night, like an oven that the baker neglects while he sleeps;

but then in the morning it blazes up like a roaring fire.

7 All of those conspirators are so passionate to be important that they are like hot ovens,

and they destroy their rulers.

All of their kings die violently;

yet not one of them calls out to me to help him.

8 The leaders of Ephraim make alliances with foreign nations,

so Ephraim has become ruined, like a pancake that someone has failed to turn over.

9 Foreigners have drained away their resources, yet the people of Israel do not realize it.

Their nation is becoming powerless, like a man who is growing old and weak,

yet they do not realize it.

10 The way that the people of Israel are so proud makes this clear to everyone.

Yet they have not begun again to worship Yahweh their God,

and they have not tried to know me despite all of these things that have happened.

11 The leaders of Ephraim are like a dove, foolish and stupid.

They asked the leaders of Egypt to help them;

then they asked the leaders of Assyria to help them.

12 Whenever they go to seek help, I will not allow them to succeed.

I will be like a hunter who catches birds with a net and pulls them down from the sky.

I will punish them,

just as I warned their assembly that I would do.

13 Terrible things will happen to them because they have stopped obeying me!

I will destroy them because they have rebelled against me!

For my part, I wanted to rescue them,

but for their part, they just tell lies about me.

14 They do not sincerely cry out to me to help them; instead they just lie on their beds and wail.

They slash themselves to offer their blood to pagan gods, hoping to get grain and new wine,

but they reject me.

15 As for me, I trained them and made them strong,

but now they plan to do evil things to me.

16 They ask for help, but not from me, the Most High God;

they are as unreliable as a bow that does not shoot straight.

Their officials will die in battle

because what they have said has made me very angry.

The people of Egypt will laugh at them for this.”

HOS C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 C10 C11 C12 C13 C14